WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- A Wilmington man is recovering after he says he was shot over a pair of shoes, that now have a bullet hole in them.

Joshua Shackelford, 20, says he was walking in his neighborhood around 3 p.m. yesterday near the 4700 block of Greentree Road. That's when a man in a white car pulled up next to him, and demanded Shackelford's shoes.

"The guy just rolled up with a gun in his hand saying I had his shoes on, so I walked up to him and said these wasn't his shoes," Shackelford said. "He started fussing, I started fussing, and he shot me in the foot and told me to take the shoes off, so I took the shoes off."

Shackelford says his attacker got back in his car and sped off. He says he did not feel any pain at first, so he walked to a friend's house who took him to the hospital. He says that's when the pain started to kick in.

"When I was in the car, I was getting hit by every light, and everyone was driving slow in front of us. That's the only time it hurt," he said.

Shackelford's mother says she was panicked when she first heard the news.

"Scared to death, you know? I didn't know where the bullet had went, so I'm thinking the worst," Ethel Shackelford said.

She says she was relieved when she found out he was only shot in the foot, but she could not understand why.

Shackelford says he knows his attacker and had gotten in a fight with him a year ago. But he says that was water under the bridge... until now.

"We just got in a fight. I beat him up, and he went home. But that was the end of it," Shackelford said.

He says the stolen Nikes were not anything special, especially after a bullet went through one of them and his foot.

Shackelford says luck is against him. He had planned on going out to celebrate his 21st birthday this Friday the 13th, but now doctor's orders have forced to stay home.

Police described the suspect as a black male about 6'1", 250 lbs. Shackelford said he identified his attacker in a photo line-up. A police department spokeswoman said she could not release the suspect's name or photo as the investigation continues.

Shackelford says he just hopes his attacker is caught soon.

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